If anyone asks me what my Roman Empire has been for the last three weeks... it has been Dominic Fike and his show in Manchester
Fike gained attention following his debut acting role in ‘Euphoria’ playing the character Elliot. Following that, the American singer has worked with the likes of Remi Wolf, Weezer, and Paul McCartney on tracks and written singles for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Mona Lisa) and the Barbie movie (Hey Blondie).
His album ‘Sunburn’ is an incredible record, and the lyricism discusses topics of his time whilst incarcerated, homage to his home Naples, Florida, and his relationships with family and addiction. Its mesmerizing, energetic and the entire track list is very fun and easy to listen to. I would describe the sound of the album as nostalgic, breezy and alternatively indie. The tempos, vocal modification, acoustics just demonstrates Fike’s talent with his vocals and production. With genre shifts across 15 song album, each single track is a banger in its own right.
In his interview with Zane Lowe about the changes in his life and mindset since writing the album, he says; ‘I have moved on, I made that album three years ago. I made it when I was in active addiction, and I was in no place to make music. It was a heavy load on my shoulders, and I am grateful to be done with it’. The struggles the artist portrays in the songs are emotive and raw, encapsulating well how he was feeling at the time. It's now good to see Fike doing better, getting healthy and enjoying the success of his record, tour and his charity work with ‘The Bail Project’.
It's now good to see Fike doing better, getting healthy and enjoying the success of his record
Now for the show….
The setlist was amazing and the whole show was a 10/10. There is something about listening to your current favourite album live that feels so cathartic and warming. Fike’s engagement and passion with his music and the audience, made the atmosphere feel electric and exciting. The venue, Victoria Warehouse, fits around a max capacity of 2500 people and was one of the smallest shows I have been to. The crowd was respectful, patient and the general feeling of the audience was just easy going and supportive for Fike.
Fike had no opening act so starting the set with ‘How Much Is Weed?’ at a faster tempo, rapping like a god under the flashing lights, the intense drumming in the background with screaming fans chanting, was a massive adrenaline rush. Highlights of the show would be the incredible riff he did during ‘Pasture Child’ which sounded good with his soft voice and the crowd getting hyped during ‘Mama’s Boy’.
I could not forget about the sneak-peak of an unreleased track which was a slow guitar ballad and, of course, the fact @kenzievois, a member of the audience, jumped on stage to play guitar, which very humbly blew everyone away. Fike himself was so impressed that he let him play acoustic for ‘Frisky’, my favourite song of the night. When reflecting on the night Kenzie Vois said ‘as a musician myself - to meet the artist that inspires my songwriting was incredible. But playing my favourite song of his, on stage, in front of fans just like me, was a dream come true.’
'Playing my favourite song of his, on stage, in front of fans just like me, was a dream come true'
The set list crossed over his other albums playing the classics from ‘What Could Possibly Go Wrong’ specifically ‘Come Here’, ‘Why’ (my second favourite performance) and ‘Wurli’ which he closed the show with. From ‘Don’t Forget About Me, Demos’ the honourable mentions were ‘Westcoast Bollective, ‘Babydoll’ which was the loudest from the audience, and of course ‘3 Nights’.
Great set, great music, and definitely a night I will never forget. Looking forward to when he returns to the UK. You will see me there at the barriers.
Billie Eilish during an interview with BBCRadio1, recently shouted out the album saying ‘I’ve also been listening to, also kind of on repeat, ‘Sunburn’ by Dom Fike, which I’m really, really loving a lot.’ If that doesn’t convince you to listen to this album, then I don’t know what will!
Fike also briefly mentioned that his next album has been made! Which hopefully means we wont have to wait as long as we did for ‘Sunburn’. We are getting impatient already!
